
(lass E&lfl 

Book. 



B«, 22 






•3-3 



WEBSTER'S ADDRESS 



DELIVERED AT THE COMPLETION OF THE 



V ^4 



BUNKER HILL MONUMENT. 






*'A duty has been performed. A work of grati- 
tude and patriotism is completed. This structure, 
having its foundations in soil, which drank deep 
of early revolutionary blood, has at length reach- 
ed its destined height, and now lifts its summit to 
the skies. 

We have assembled to celebrate the accom- 
plishment of this undertaking, and to indulge, 
afresh, in the recollection of the great event, 
which it is designed to commemorate. Eighteen 
years, more than half the ordinary duration of a 
generation of mankind, have elapsed, since the 
corner-stone of this monument was laid. The 
hopes of its projectors rested on voluntary contri- 
butions, private munificence, and the general fa- 
vor of the public. These hopes have not been 
disappointed. Donations have been made by in- 
dividuals, in some cases of large amount, and 
smaller sums contributed by thousands. All who 
regard the object itself as important, and its ac- 
complishment, therefore, as a good attained, will 
entertain sincere respect and gratitude for the un- 
wearied efforts of the successive Presidents, 
Boards af Directors, and Committees of the As- 
sociation, which has had the general control of 
the work. The Architect, equally entitled to our 
thanks and commendation, will find other reward, 
also, for his labor and skill, in the beauty and el- 
egance of the obelisk itself, and the distinction 
which, as a work of art, it confers on him. 

At a period when the prospects of further pro- 
gress in the undertaking were gloomy and dis- 
couraging, the Mechanic Association, by a most 
praiseworthy and vigorous effort, raised new funds 
for carrying it forward, and saw them applied with 
fidelity, economy, and skill. It is a grateful duty 
to make public acknowledgments, of such timely 
and efficient aid. 



The last effort, and the last contribution were 
from a different source. Garlands of grace and 
elegance were destined to crown a work, whichi 
had its commencement in manly patriotism. The 
winning power of the sex addressed itself to the 
public, and all that was needed to carry the mon-i 
ument to its proposed height, and give to it its 
finish, was promptly supplied. The mothers and 
the daughters of the land contributed thus, most 
successfully to whatever of beauty is in the obelisk 
itself, or whatever of utility and public benefit and 
gratification in its completion. 

Of those, with whom the plan of erecting on 
this spot a monument, worthy of the event to be 
commemorated, originated, many are now pres- 
ent ; but others, alas ! have themelves become 
subjects of monumental inscription. William Tu- 
dor, an accomplished scholar, a distinguished ! 
writer, a most amiable man, allied, both by birth 
and sentiment, to the patriots of the Revolution, 
died, while on public service abroad, and now lies 
buried in a foreign land. William Sullivan, a 
name fragrant of Revolutionary merit, and of pub- 
'Hc service and public virtue, who himself partook. 1 
in a high degree, of the respect and confidence of| 
the community, and yet was always most loveq 
where best known, has also been gathered to his 
fathers. And last, George Blake, a lawyer of 
learning and eloquence, a man of wit and of talj 
ent, of social qualities the most agreeable anc 
fascinating, and of gifts which enabled him to exj 
ercise a large sway over public assemblies, hai 
closed his human career. I know that in th< 
crowds before me, there are those, from whosj 
eyes copious tears will flow, at the mention q 
these names. But such mention is due to thei 
general character, their public and private virtues 
and especially on this occasion, to the spirit an 



zeal, with which they entered into the undertak- 
ing, which is now completed. 

I have spoken onl}' of those who are not now 
numbered with the liying. But a long life, now 
drawing towards its close, always distinguished 
by acts of public spirit, humanity, and charity, 
forming a character, which has already become 
historical, and sanctified by public regard, and by 
the affection of friends, may confer, even on the 
living, the proper immunity of the dead, and be 
the fit subject of honorable mention, and warm 
commendation. Of the early projectors of the 
design of this monument, one of the most promi- 
nent, the most zealous, and the most efficient, is 
Thomas H.Perkins. It was beneath bis ever- 
hospitable roof that those whom I have mention- 
ed, and others yet living, and now present, hav- 
ing assembled for the purpose, adopted the first 
step towards erecting a monument on Bunker 
Hill. Long may he remain, with unimpaired fac- 
ulties, in the wide field of his usefulness. His 
charities have distilled, like the dews of heaven; 
he has fed the hungry, and clothed the naked; he 
has given sight to the blind; and for such virtues 
there is a reward on high, of which all human 
memorials, all language of brass and stone, are 
but humble types and attempted imitations. 

Time and nature have had their course', in dimin- 
ishing the number of those whom we met here on 
the 17th of June, 1825. Most of the Revolution- 
ary characters then present have since deceased, 
and Lafayette sleeps in his native land. Yet the 
name and blood of Warren are with us; the kin 
dred of Putnam are also here ; and near me, uni- 
versally beloved for his character and his virtues, 
and now venerable for his years, sits the son of 
the noble-hearted and daring Prescott. Gideon 
Foster, of Danvers; Enos Reynolds, of Boxford; 
Phineas Johnson, Robert Andrews, Elijah Dres- 
ser, Josiah Cleaveland, Jesse Smith, Philip Bag- 
ley, Needham Maynard, Roger Plaisted, Joseph 
Stephens, Nehemiah Porter, and James Harvey, 
who bore arms for their country, either at Con- 
cord and Lexington, on the 19th of April, or on 
Bunker Hill, all now far advanced in age, have 

come rjere to-da.y, to loolc onoo moi-o on tho field 

of the exercise of their valor, and to receive a 
hearty outpouring of our respect. 

They have long outlived the troubles and dan- 
gers of the revolution ; they have outlived the 
evils arising from the want of a united and effi- 
cient Government ; they have outlived the pen- 
dency of imminent dangers to the public liberty ; 
they have outlived nearly all their contempora- 
ries ; but they have not outlived — they cannot 
outlive — the affectionate gratitude of their coun- 
try. Heaven has not allotted to this generation 
an opportunity of rendering high services, and 
manifesting strong personal devotion, such as 
they rendered and manifested, and in such a cause 
as roused the patriotic fires of their youthful 
breasts, and nerved the strength of their arms. 
But we may praise what we cannot equal, and 
celebrate actions which we were not born to per- 
form. Pulchrum. est benefacere republics, etiam 
bene dicere hand. 



The Bunker Hill Monument is finished. Here 
it stands. Fortunate in the natural eminence on 
which it is placed — higher, infinitely higher, in its 
objects and purpose, it rises over the land, and 
over the sea, and visible, at their homes, to three 
hundred thousand citizens of Massachusetts — it 
stands, a memorial of the last, and a monitor to 
the present, and all succeeding generations. I 
have spoken of the loftiness of its purpose. If j 
it had been without any other design than the 
creation of a work of art, the granite, of which 
it is composed, would have slept in its native bed. 
It has a purpose : and that purpose gives it char- 
acter. That purpose enrobes it with dignity and 
moral grandeur. That well known purpose it is, 
which causes us to look up to it with a feeling of 
awe. It is itself the orator of this occasion ; it is 
not from my lips, it is not from any human lips, 
that that strain of eloquence is this day to flow, 
most competent to move and excite the vast mul- 
titudes around. The potent speaker stands mo- 
tionless before them. It is a plain shaft. It 
bears no inscriptions, fronting to the rising sun, 
from which the future antiquarian shall wipe the 
dust. Nor does the rising sun cause tones of mu- 
sic to issue from its summit. But at the rising of 
the sun, and at the setting of the sun, in the blaze 
of noon-day, and beneath the milder effulgence of 
lunar light, it looks, it speaks, it acts, to the full 
comprehension of every American mind, and the 
awakening of glowing enthusiasm in every Amer- 
ican heart. Its silent, but awful utterance ; its 
deep pathos, as it brings to our contemplation the 
17th of June, 1775, and the consequences which 
have resulted to us, to our country, and to the 
world, from the events of that day, and which we 
know must continue to rain influence on the des- 
tinies of mankind, to the end of time ; the eleva- 
tion with which it raises us high above the ordi- 
nary feelings of life, surpass all that the study of 
the closet, or even the inspiration of genius can 
produce. To-day it speaks to us. Its future au- 
ditories will be through successive generations of 
men, as they rise up before it, and gather round 
it. Its speech will be of patriotism and courage ; 
of civil and religious liberty j of free government; 
of the moral improvement and elevation of man- 
kind ; and of the immortal memory of those who, 
with heroic devotion, have sacrificed their lives 
for their country. 

In the older world numerous fabrics still exist, 
reared by human hands, but whose object has 
been lost'in the darkness of ages. They are now 
monuments of nothing but the labor and skill 
which constructed them. 

The mighty pyramid itself, half buried in the 
sands of Africa, has nothing to bring down and 
report to us, but the power of kings and the ser- 
vitude of the people. If it had any purpose be- 
yond that of a mausoleum, such purpose has per- 
ished from history, and from tradition. If asked 
for its moral object, its admonition, its sentiment, 
its instruction to mankind, or any high end in its 
erection, it is silent — silent as the millions which 
lie in the dust at its base, and in the catacombs 
which surround it. Without a just moral object, 






therefore, made known to man, though raised 
against the skies, it excites only conviction of 
power, mixed with strange wonder. But if the 
civilization of the present race of men, founded as 
it is, in solid science, the true knowledge of na- 
ture, and vast discoveries in art, and which is 
stimulated and purified by moral sentiment, and 
by the truths of Christianity, be not destined to 
destruction, before the final termination of human 
existence on earth, the object and purpose of this 
edifice will be known, till that hour shall come. 
And even if civilization should be subverted, 
and the truths of the Christian religion obscured 
by a new deluge of barbarism, the memory of 
Bunker Hill and the American Revolution will 
still be elements and parts of the knowledge 
which shall be possessed by the last man to whom 
the light of civilization and Christianity shall be 
extended. 

This celebration is honored by the presence of 
the Chief Executive Magistrate of the Union. An 
occasion so National in its object and character, 
and so much connected with that Revolution, from 
which the Government sprang, at the head of 
which he is placed, may well receive from him this 
mark of attention and respect. Well acquainted 
with Yorktown, the scene of the last great milita- 
ry struggle of the Revolution, his eye now sur- 
veys the field of Bunker Hill, the theatre of the 
first of these important conflicts. He sees where 
Warren fell, where Putnam and Prescott and 
Stark and Knowlton and Brooks fought. He be- 
holds the spot, where a thousand trained soldiers 
of England were smitten to the earth, in the first 
effort of Revolutionary war, by the arm of a bold 
and determined yeomanry, contending for liberty 
and their country. And while all assembled here 
entertain towards him sincere personal good 
wishes, and the high respect due to his elevated 
office and station, it is not to be doubted, that he 
enters, with true American feeling, into the patri- 
otic enthusiasm, kindled by the occasion, which 
animates the millions which surround him. 

His Excellency, the Governor of the Common- 
wealth, the Governor of Rhode Island, and the 
other distinguished public men, whom we have 
the honor to receive as visitors and guests, to- 
day, will cordially unite in a celebration connected 
with the great event of the Revolutionary war. 

No name in the history of 1775 and 1776 is 
more distinguished than that of an ex-President 
of the United States, whom we expected to see 
here, but whose ill health prevents his atfendance. 
Whenever popular rights were to be asserted, an 
Adams was present ; and when the time came, 
for the formal Declaration of Independence, it 
was the voice of an Adams, that shook the Halls 
of Congress. We wish we could have welcomed 
to^us, this day, the inheritor of Revolutionary 
blood, and the just and worthy Representative of 
high Revolutionary names, merit and services. 

Banners and badges, processions and flags, an- 
nounce to us, that amidst this uncounted multi- 
tude are thousands of natives of New England, 
now residents in other States. Welcome, ye kin- 
dred names, with kindred blood ! From the 



broad savannas of the South, from the newer re- 
gions of the West, from amidst the hundred thou- 
sands of men of Eastern origin, who cultivate the 
rich valley of the Genesee, or live along the 
chain of the Lakes, from the mountains of Penn- 
sylvania, and the thronged cities of the coast, 
welcome, welcome ! Wherever else you may be 
strangers, here you are all at home. You assem- 
ble at this shrine of liberty, near the family altars, 
at which your earliest devotions were "paid to 
Heaven; near to the temples of worship, first en- 
tered by you, and near to the schools and colleg- 
es, in which your education was received. You 
come hither with a glorious ancestry of Liberty. 
You bring names, which are on the rolls of Lex- 
ington, Concord, and Bunker Hill. You come, 
some of you, once more to be embraced by an 
aged Revolutionary father, or to receive another, 
perhaps, a last blessing, bestowed in love and 
tears, by a mother, yet surviving to witness, and 
to enjoy, your prosperity and happiness. 

But if family associations and the recollections 
of the past, bring you hither with greater alacri- 
ty, and mingle with your greeting much of local 
attachment, and private affection, greeting also 
be given, free and hearty greeting, to every 
American citizen, who treads this sacred soil, with 
patriotic feeling, and respires with pleasure, in an 
atmosphere fragrant with the recollections of 
1775. This occasion is respectable — nay, it is 
grand, it is sublime, by the nationality of its sen- 
timent. In the seventeen millions of happy peo- 
ple, who form the American community, there is 
not one who has not an interest in this Monu- 
ment, as there is not one, that has not a deep 
and abiding interest in that which it commemo- 
rates. 

Woe betide the man, who brings to this day's 
worship feeling less than wholly American ! Woe 
betide the man, who can stand here with the fires 
of local resentments burning, or the purpose of fo- 
menting local jealousies, and the strifes of local in- 
terests, festering and rankling in his heart. Union, 
founded in justice, in patriotism, and the most plain 
and obvious common interest; union, founded on 

the same love of liberty, cemented by blood shed 

in the same common cause ; union has been the 
source of all our glory and greatness thus far, and 
is the ground of all our highest hopes. This col- 
umn stands on Union. I know not that it might 
not keep its position, if the American Union, in the 
mad conflict of human passions, and in the strife of 
parties and factions, should be broken up and de- 
stroyed. I know not that it would totter and fall 
to the earth, and mingle its fragments with the 
fragments of Liberty and the Constitution, when 
State should be separated from State, and faction 
and dismemberment obliterate forever all the hopes 
of the founders of our Republic, and the great in- 
heritance of their children. It might stand. But 
who, from beneath the weight of mortification and 
shame, that would oppress him, could look up to 
behold it ? For my part, should I live to such a 
time, I shall avert my eyes from it forever. 

It is not as a mere military encounter of hostile 
armies, that the battle of Bunker Hill founds its 



principal claim to attention. Yet, even as a mere 
battle, there were circumstances attending it, extra- 
ordinary in character and entitling it to peculiar dis- 
tinctions. It was fought on this eminence; in the 
neighborhood of yonder city; in the presence of 
more spectators than there were combatants in the 
conflict. Men, women and children, from every 
commanding position, were gazing at the battle 
and looking for its result with all the eagerness nat- 
ural to those who knew that the issue was fraught 
with the deepest consequences to them. Yet, on 
the sixteenth of June, 1775, there was nothing 
around this hill but verdure and culture. There 
was, indeed, the note of awful preparation in Bos- 
ton. There was the provincial army at Cambridge 
with its right flank resting on Dorchester, and its 
left on Chelsea. But here all was peace. Tran- 
quility reigned around. 

On the seventeenth, every thing was changed. — 
On yonder height had arisen, in the night, a re- 
doubt in which Prescott commanded. Perceived 
by the enemy at dawn, it was immediately cannon- 
aded from the floating batteries in the river, and 
the opposite shore. And then ensued the hurry of 
preparation in Boston, and soon the troops of Brit- 
ain embarked in the attempt to dislodge the colo- 
nists. 

I suppose it would be difficult, in a military point 
of view, to ascribe to the leaders on either side, 
any just motive for the conflict which followed. — 
On the one hand it could not have been very im- 
portant to the Americans to attempt to hem the 
British within the town by advancing one single 
post a quarter of a mile; while on the other hand, 
if the British found it essential to dislodge the 
American troops, they had it in their power, at no 
expense of life. By moving up their ships and bat- 
teries, they could have completely cut off all com- 
munication with the main land over the neck, and 
the forces in the redoubt would have been reduced 
to a state of famine in forty-eight hours. 

But that was not the day for any such consider- 
ations on either side ! Both parties were anxious 
to try the strength of their arms. The pride of 
England would not permit the rebels, as she 
termed them, to defy her to the teeth, and without 
for a moment calculating the cost, the British 
general determined to destroy the fort immediate- 
ly. On the other side, Prescott and his gallant 
followers longed and thirsted for a conflict. They 
wished it, and wished it at once. And this is the 
true secret of the movements on this hill. 

I will not attempt to describe the battle. The 
cannonading — the landing of the British — their 
advance — the coolness with which the charge was 
met— the repulse — the second attack — the second 
repulse — the burning of Charlestown — and finally 
the closing assault, and the slow retreat of the 
Americans — the history of all these is familiar. 

But the consequences of the battle of Bunker 
Hill are greater than those of any conflict be- 
tween the hostile armies of the European powers. 
It was the first great battle of the Revolution ; 
and not only the first blow, but the blow which 
determined the contest. It did not, indeed, put 
an end to the war, but in the then existing hostile 



state of feeling, the difficulties could only be re- 
ferred to the arbitration of the sword. And one 
thing is certain ; that after the New England 
troops had shown themselves able to face and re- 
pulse the regulars, it was decided that peace never 
could be established but upon the basis of the In- 
dependence of the colonies. When the sun of 
that day went down, the event of independence 
was certain ! When Washington heard of the 
battle he inquired if the militia had stood the fire 
of the regulars ? And when told that they had 
not only stood that fire, but reserved their own 
till the enemy was within eight rods, and then 
poured it in with tremendous effect — "then," 
exclaimed he, *' The liberties of the country are 
safe !" 

The consequences of this battle were just of 
the same importance as the Revolution itself. 

If there was nothing of any value in the princi- 
ples of the American Revolution, then there is 
nothing valuable in the battle of Bunker Hill and 
its consequences. But if the Revolution was an 
era in the history of man, favorable to human 
happiness — if it was an event which marked the 
progress of man, all over the world, from despot- 
ism to liberty — then this monument is not raised 
without cause. Then, the battle of Bunker Hill 
is not an event undeserving celebrations, com- 
memorations and rejoicings. 

What then is the true and peculiar principle of 
the American Revolution, and of the systems of 
government which it has confirmed and establish- 
ed ? Now the truth is, that the American Revo- 
lution was not caused by the instantaneous discov- 
ery of principles of government before unheard 
of, or the practicable adoption of political ideas, 
such as never had before entered into the minda 
of men. It was but the full developement of 
principles of government, forms of society, and 
political sentiments, the origin of all which lay 
back two centuries in English and American his- 
tory. 

The discovery of America, its colonization by the 
nations of Europe, the history and progress of the 
colonies, from their establishment, to the time when 

the principal of them threw off their allpgiance to the 

respective States which had planted them, and founded 
governments of their own, constitute one of the most 
interesting trains of events in human annals. These 
events occupied three hundred years ; during which 
period civilization and knowledge made steady pro- 
gress in the old world ; so that Europe, at the com- 
mencement of the nineteenth century, had become 
greatly changed- from that Europe which began the 
colonization of America at the commencement of the 
fifteenth. And what is most material to my present 
purpose is, that in the progress of the first of these 
centuries, that is to say, from the discovery of America 
to the settlements of Virginia and Massachusetts, 
political and religious events took place, which most 
materially affected the state of society, and the senti- 
ments of mankind, especially in England, and in parts 
of Continental Europe. After a few feeble and unsuc- 
cessful efforts by England, under Henry the Seventh, 
to plant colonies in America, no designs of that kind 
were prosecuted for a long period, either by the Eng- 
lish government, or any of its subjects. Without 
inquiring into the causes of this long delay, its conse- 
quences are sufficiently clear and striking. England 



In this lapse of a century, unknown to herself, but 
under the Providence of God, and the influence of 
eveuts, was fitting herself for the work of colonizing 
North America, on such principles, and by such men, 
as should spread the English name and English blood, 
in time, over a great portion of the Western hemis- 
phere. The commercial spirit was greatly encouraged 
by several laws passed in Henry the Seventh's reign ;• 
and in the same reign encouragement was given to arts 
and manufactures in the Eastern countries, and some 
not unimportant modifications of the feudal system, 
by allowing the breaking of entails. These, and other 
measures, and other occurrences, were making way 
for a new class of society to emerge, and show itself in 
a military and feudal age. A middle class, neither 
Barons nor great landholders on the one side, nor the 
mere retainers of the Crown, nor Barons nor mere 
agricultural laborers on the other. With the rise and 
growth of this new class of society, not only did com- 
merce and the arts increase, but better education, 
a greater degree of knowledge, juster notions of the 
true ends of government, and sentiments favorable to 
civil liberty, began to spread abroad, and become more 
and more common. But the plants springing from 
these seeds, were of slow growth. The character 
of English society had indeed begun to undergo a 
change ; but changes of national character are ordina- 
rily the work of time. Operative causes were how- 
ever, evidently in existence, and sure to produce, ulti- 
mately, their proper effect. From the accession 
of Henry Vllth, to the breaking out of the civil wars, 
England enjoyed much more exemption from war, 
foreign and domestic, than for a long period before, 
and during the controversy between the houses of York 
and Lancaster. These years of peace, were favorable 
to commerce and the arts. Commerce and the arts 
augmented general and individual knowledge; and 
knowledge is the only first fountain, both of the love, 
and the principles of human liberty. 

Other powerful causes soon came into active play. 
The reformation of Luther broke out, kindling up the 
minds of men afresh, leading to new habits of thought, 
and awakening in individuals energies before unknown, 
even to themselves. The religious controversies of this 
period changed society as well as religion ; indeed, it 
Would be easy to prove, if this occasion were prpper for 
it, that they changed society to a considerable extent, 
where they did not change the religion of the State. 
The spirit of foreign and commercial adventure, there- 
fore, on the one hand, which had gained so much 
strength aurl influence since the time of the discovery of 
America, and, on the other, the assertion and mainte- 
nance of religious liberty, having their source, indeed, 
in the Reformation, but continued, diversified, and con- 
tinually strengthened by the subsequent divisions of sen- 
timent and opinion among the reformers themselves, 
and this love of religious liberty drawing after them, or 
bringing along with them, as they always do, an ardent 
devotion to the principle of civil liberty also, were the 
powerful influences under which character was formed, 
and men trained for the great work of introducing Eng- 
lish civilization, English law, and what is more than all, 
Anglo-Saxon blood, into the wilderness of North Amer- 
ica. Raleigh and his companions may be considered as 
the creatures, principally, of the first of these causes. 
High-spirited, full of the love of personal adventure, 
excited, too, in some degree, by the hopes of sudden 
riches from the discovery of mines of the precious met- 
als, and not unwilling to diversify the labors of settling 
a colony with occasional cruizing against the Spaniards 
in the West Indian seas, they crossed and re-crossed 
the ocean, with a frequency which surprises us, when 
we consider the state of navigation, and which evinces 



a most daring spirit. The other cause peopled New 
England. The May Flower sought, our shores under 
no high-wrought spirit of commercial adventure, no love 
of gold, no mixture of purpose, warlike or hostile, to 
any human being. Like the dove from the ark, she 
had put forth only to find rest. Solemn prayers from 
the shores of the sea in Holland, had invoked for her, 
at her departure, the blessings of Providence. The 
stars which guided her were the unobscured constella- 
tions of civil and religious liberty. Her deck was the 
altar of the living God. Fervant prayers, from bended 
knees, mingled, morning and evening, with the voices 
of ocean, and the sighing of the wind in her shrouds. 
Every prosperous breeze which, gently swelling her 
sails, helped the Pilgrims onward in their course, awoke 
new anthems of praise; and when the elements were 
wrought into fury, neither the tempest, tossing their 
fragile bark like a feather, nor the darkness and howl- 
ing of the midnight storm, ever disturbed, in man or 
woman, the firm and settled purpose of their souls, to 
undergo all, and to do all, that the meekest patience, 
the boldest resolution, and the highest trust in God, 
could enable human beings to suffer or to perform. 

Some differences may, doubtless be traced at this day, 
between the descendants of the early colonists of Virginia 
and those of New England, owing to the different influen- 
ces and different circumstances under which the respective 
seti lements were made. But only enough to create a pleas- 
ing variety in the midst of a general resemblance. 

-fades, non omnibus vna, 



"JYec diversa iamen, qualem decet esse sororem." 

But the habits, sentiments, and objects of both, soon be- 
came modified by local causes, growing out of their condi- 
tion in the New World ; and as this condition was essen- 
tially alike in both, and as both at once adopted the same 
general rules and principles of English jurisprudence, these 
differences gradually diminished. They gradually disap- 
peared by the progress of time, and the influence of inter- 
course. The necessity of some degree of union and co-op- 
eration to defend themselves against the savage tribes, 
tended to excite in them mutual respect and regard. They 
fought together in the wars against France. The great and 
common cause of tne Revolution bound them together by 
new links of brotherhood ; and finally, fortunately, happily 
and gloriously, the present form of government united them 
to form the Great Republic of'the World, and bound up their 
interest and fortunes, till the whole earth sees that there ia 
now for them, in present possession, as as well luture hope, 
only "One Country, One Constitution, and One Destiny." 

The colonization of the tropical reaion. and the whole of 
the southern parts of the continent, by Spain and Portugal, 
was conducted on other principles, tinder the influence of 
other motives, and followed by far different consequences. 
From the time of its discovery, the Spanish Government 
pushed forward its settlements in America, not only with 
vigor, but with eagerness ; so that long before the first per- 
manent English settlement had been accompli>hed, in what 
is now the United States, Spain had conquered Mexico. Pe- 
ru, and Chili ; and stretched her power over nearly all the 
territory she ever acquired in this continent. The rapidity 
of these conquests is to he ascribed in a «reat degree, to the 
eagerness, not to say the rapacity of those numerous hands 
of adventurers who were stimulated to subdue immense re- 
gions, and take possession of them in the name of the crown 
of Spain. The mines ot gold and silver were the excite- 
ments to these efforts, and accordingly settlements were 
generally made, and Spanish authority established on the 
immediate eve of the subjugation of territory, that the na- 
tive population might be set to work hy their new Spanish 
masters, in the mines. From these facts, the love of gob 1 — 
gold not produced hy industry, nnr accumulated hy com- 
merce, but gold dug from its native bed in the bowels of the 
earth, and that earth ravished from its rightful possessors 
by every possible degree of enormity, cruelty and crime, 
was long the governing passion in Spanish wars and Span- 
ish settlements in America. Even Columbus himself did 
not wholly escape the influence of this base motive. In his 
early voyages we find him pa-sing from island to island, in- 
quiring every where for gold ; as i* God had opened (he 



new world to the knowledge of the old. only to gratify a 
passion equally senseless and sordid ; and to offer up mil- 
lions of an unoffending race of men to the destruction of the 
sword, sharpened holh hy cruelty and rapacity. And yet 
Columbus was far above his age and country. Enlhusias- 
tic, indeed, but sober, religious and magnanimous ; born to 
great things and capable of high sentiments, as his noble 
discourse before Ferdinand and Isabella, as well as the 
whole history or his life shows. Probably he sacrificed 
much to the known sentiments of others, and addressed to 
his followers motives likely to influence them. At the same 
time it is evident that he himself looked upon the world 
which he discovered a- a world of wealth, all ready to be 
seized and enjoyed. 

The conquerors and the European settlers of Spanish 
America were mainly military commanders and common 
soldiers. The monarchy of Spain was not transferred to 
this hemisphere, but it acted in it, as it acted at home, 
through its ordinary means, and its true representative, 
military force. The robbery and destruction of the native 
race was the achievement of standing armies, in the right 
of the king, and by his authority ; fishting in his name, for 
the aggrandisement of his power: and the extension of his 
prerogatives ; with military ideas under arbitrary maxims 
a portion of that dreadful instrumentality by which a per- 
fect despotism governs a people. As there was no liberty 
in Spain, how could liberty be transmitttd to Spanish col- 
onies ? 

The colonies of English America were of the people, and 
a people already free. They were of the middle, industri- 
ous, and already prosperous class, the inhabitants of com- 
mercial and manufacturing cities, among whom liberty first 
revived and respired, alter a sleep of a thousand years, in 
the bosom of the dark ages. Spain descended on the new 
world in the armed and terrible image of her monarchy and 
her soldiery : England approached it in the winning and 
popular garb of personal rights, public protection and civil 
freedom. England transplanted liberty to America ; Spain 
transplanted power. England, through the agency of pri- 
vate companies, and the efforts of individuals, colonized this 
part of North America, by industrious individuals, making 
their own way in the wilderness, defending themselves 
against the savages, recognizing their right to the soil, <md 
with a general honest purpose of introducing knowledge as 
well as Christianity among them. Spain stooped on s"outh 
America, like a falcon on its prey. Every thing was gone. 
Territories were acquired, by fire and sword. Cities were 
destroyed by fire and Rword. Hundreds of thousands of 
human beings Cell by fire and sword. Even conversion to 
Christianity was attempted by fire and sword. 

Behold, then, fellow citizens, the difference resulting 
from the operation of the two principles! Here, to-day, 
on the summit of Runker-Hill. and atthe foot of the monu- 
ment, behold the difference ! I would that the fifty thous- 
and voices present could proclaim it, with a shout which 
should be heard over the globe. Our inheritance was of 
liberty, secured and regulated by law, and enlightened by 
religion and knowledge ■ that of South America was of 
power, stern, unrelenting, tyiannical, military power. And 
look to the results, on the general and agartgate happiness 
of the human race. And behold the results, in all the re- 
gions conquered by Cortez and Pizarro, and the contrasted 
results here. I suppose the territory of the United States 
may amount to one eighth or one tenth of that colonized by 
Spain on this continent, and yet in all that vast region there 
are but between one and two millions of European color 
and European blood : while in the United States there are 
fourteen millions who rejoice in their descent from the peo- 
ple of the more northern part of Europe. 

But we follow the difference, in the original principle of 
colonization, and in its character and objects, still further. 
We must look to the moral and intellectual results ; we 
must consider the consequences, not only as they show 
themselves in the greater or less multiplication of men or 
the supplv of their physical wants— but in their civilization, 
improvement and happiness. We must inquire what pro- 
gress has been made in the true science of liberty, and in 
the knowledge of the »reat principles of sell-government. 

I would not willingly say any thing on this occasion, dis- 
courteous to the new Governments, founded on the demoli- 
tion of the power of the Spanish monarchy. They are yet 
on their trial, and I hope for a favorable result. But truth, 
sacred truth, and fidelitv to the cause of civil liberty, com- 
pels me to say, that hitherto they have discovered quite 
tDo much of the spirit of that monarchy, from which they 



separated themselves. Quite too frequent resort is made to 
military force ; and quite too much of the substance of the 
people, consumed, in maintaining armies, not for defence 
against foreign aggression only, but for enloroing obedience 
to domestic authority. Standing armies are the oppressive 
instruments for governing the people, in the hands of he 
reditary and arbitrary monarchs. A military republic, a 
government founded on mock elections, and supported only 
by the sword, is a movement indeed, but a retrograde and 
disastrous movement, from the monarchial systems. I( 
men would enjoy the blessings of Republican government, 
they must govern themselves by reason, by mutual counsel 
and consultation, by a sense and feeling of general interest, 
and by the acquiescence of the minority in the will ol the 
majority, properly expressed; and above all, the military 
must be kept, according to <he language of our bill of 
rights, in strict subordination to the civil authority.— 
Wherever this lesson is not both learned and practised* 
there can be no political freedom. Absurd, preposterous is 
it— a scon" and a satire on free forms of constitutional lib- 
erty, for constitutions and frames of government to be pre 
scribed by military leaders, and the right of suffrage to be 
exercised at the point of the sword. 

Making all allowance for situation and climate, it cannot 
be doubted by intelligent minds, that the difference now 
existing between North and South America is justly attrib- 
utable, in a great degree, to political institutions. And how 
broad that difference is! Suppose an assembly, in one of 
the valleys, or on the side of one of the mountains of the 
southern half of the hemisphere, to be held, this day, in the 
neighborhood of a large city ;— what would be the scene 
presented ? Yonder is a volcano, flaming and smoking, but 
shedding no light, moral or intellectual. At its foot is the 
mine, yielding, perhaps, sometimes, large gains to capital, 
but in which labor is destined to eternal and unrequited 
toil, and rewardeil only by penury and beggary. The city 
is filled with armed men ; not a free people, armed and 
coming forth voluntarily to rejoice in a public festivity; but 
hireling troops, supported by forced loans, excessive impo- 
sitions on commerce, or taxes wrung from a half fed, and a 
half clothed population. For the great there are palaces 
covered with gnld ; for the poor there are hovels of the 
meanest sort. There is an ecclesiastical hierarchy enjoyn g 
the wealth of princes •, but there are no means of education 
to the people. Do public improvements favor intercourse 
between place and place ? So far trom this, that the trav- 
eler cannot pass from town to town, without danger, every 
mile, ofrohbery and assassination. I would not overcharge, 
or exaggerate this picture; but its principal sketches are all 
too true. 

And how does it contrast with the scene now actually 
before us ? Lot k round upon these fields ; they are verdant 
and beautiful, well cultivated, and at this moment loaded 
with the riches of the early harvest. The hands which till 
them are free owners of the soil, enjoying equal rights, and 
protected hy law from oppression and tyranny. Look to 
the thousand vessels in our sight, filling the harbor, or cov- 
ering the neighboring sea. They are the instruments of a 
profitable commerce, carried on by men who Know that tho 
profits of their hardy enterprize, when they make them, are 
their own ; and this commerce is encouraged and regulated 
by wise laws, and rtelended. when need be, by the valor and 
patriotism of the country. Look to that fair city . the abode 
of so much diffused wealth, so much general happiness and 
comfort; so much personal independence, and so much 
general knowledge. She fears no forced contributions, no 
siege or sacking from military leaders of rival factions — 
The hundred temples, in which her citizens worship God, 
are in no danger of sacrilege. The regular administration 
of the laws encounters no obstacle. The long processions 
of children ami youth, which you see this day, issuing by 
thousands from the free schools, prove the care and anxiety 
with which a popular government provides tor the educa- 
tion and morals of the people. Every where there is order; 
every where there is security. Every where the law reach- 
es to the highest, and reaches to the lowest, to protect him 
in his rights, and to restrain him from wrong ; and over all 
hovers liberty, that liberty which our fathers fought, and 
fell for, on this very spot, with her eye ever watchiul, and 
her eagle wing ever wide out spread. 

The colonies of Spain, from their origin to their end were 
subject to the sovereign authority of the kingdom. Their 
government, as well as their commerce, was a strict home 
monopoly. If we add to this, the established usage of fill- 
ing important posts in the administration of the Colonies, 



exclusively by natives of Old Spain, thus cutting offforever 
all hopes of honorable preferment from every man born in 
he Western hemisphere, causes enough rise up before us at 
once, to account fullv for the subsequent history and charac- 
ter of these provinces. The Viceroys and Provincial Gov- 
ernors of Spain were never at home, in their governments 
in America. They did not feel that they were of the people 
whom they governed. Their official character and employ- 
ment have a good deal of resemblance to those of the Pro 
consuls of Rome, in Asia, Sicily ami Gaul; but obviously no 
resemblance to those of Carver and Winthrop, and very lit- 
tle to those of the Governors of Virginia after that Colony 
had established a popular house ot Burgesses. 

The English Colonists in America, generally speaking, 
were men who were seeking new homes in a new world. — 
They brought with them their families and all that was 
most dear to them. This was especially the ca.-e with the 
^olnnisis of Plymouth and Massachusetts. Many of them 
Were educated men, and all possessed their full share, ac- 
cording to their social condition, of the knowledge and at- 
tainments of that age. The distinctive characteristic of 
their settlement, is the introduction of 'he civilization of 
"Europe into a wilderness, without bringing with it the po- 
litical institutions of Europe. The aris, sciences and liter- 
ature of England came over with the settlers. That great 
portion of the common law, which regulates ihe social and 
personal relations and conduct of men. came also. The ju- 
ry came ; ihe habeas corpus came ; the testamentary pow- 
er came, and the law of inheritance and descent came also, 
except that port of it which recognizes the rights of primo- 
eniture. which either did not come at all, or soon gave 
way to the rule of equal partition of estates among chil- 
ren. But the monarchy did not come, nor the aristocracy, 
nor the church as an estate of the realm. Political institii- 
ions were to be framed anew, such as should be adapted to 
the state of things. But it could not be doubtful, what 
hould be the nature and character of these institutions. A 
eneral social equality prevailed among the settlers, and an 
equality of political rights seemed the natural, if not the 
ecessary consequence. Afte forty years ot revolution, vi- 
olence and war. the people of France have placed at Ihe 
head of the fundamental instrument of their government, as 
the great boon obstained by all their sufferings and sacrifi- 
ces, the declaration, that all Frenchmen are equal before 
he law. What France had reached only by the expendit 
tire of so much blood and treasure, and the exhibition of so 
much crime, the English colonists obtained, by simply- 
changing their place, carrying with them the intellectu- 
al and moral culture of Europe, and the personal and 
social relations to which they were accustomed, but 
caving behind their political institutions. It has been said 
with much veracity, that the felicity of the American colo- 
nists con-isted in their escape from the past. This is true, 
so far as respects political establishments but no further.— 
They brought with them a full portion of all the riches of 
the past, in science, in art, in morals, religion and litera- 
ture. The Bible came with them. As it is not to bedoubt- 
ed. that to the ft ee and universal reading of the Bible, is to 
be asorihed in that age, ascribed in every age, that men 
ere much indebted for right views of civil liberty. The 
Bible is a book of faith, and a book of doctrine ; but if is al- 
so a bnok, which leaches man his own individual responsi- 
bility, his own dignity, and his equality with his fellow man. 
Bacon, and Locke, and Milton and Shakspeare also came 
with them. They fame to form new political systems, hut 
all that belonged to cultivated man, to family, to neighbor- 
hood, to social relations accompanied them. In the Doric 
phrase of one of our own historians, "they came to settle 
on bare creation ;" b'lt their settlement in the wilderness 
nevertheless, was not a lodgment of nominal tribes, a mere 
resting place of roaming savages. It was ihe beginning of a 
permanent community, the fixed residence of cultivated 
men. Not only was English literature read, but English, 
good English, was spoken and written, before the axe had 
made way to let in the sun upon the habitations and fields 
of the settlers. And whatever may be said to the contrary, 
a correct use of the English language is, at this dav, more 
gener.-.l thoughout the United States, than it is throughout 
Ens'and herself. But another grand ch iracteristic is, that 
in the English colonies, political affairs were left to be man- 
aged by the colonists themselves. There is another fact 
wholly distinguishing them in character as it has distin- 
guished them in fortune, from the colonists of Spain. Here 
lies the foundation of that experience in self-government, 
which had preserved order, and security, and regularly 



amidst the play of popular institutions. Home government 
was the secret of the prosperity of the North American set- 
tlements. The more distinguished of the New England 
colonists, with a most remarkable sagacity, and a long-sight- 
ed reach into futurity, refused to come to America, unless 
they could bring with them charters providing for the ad- 
ministration of their affairs in this country. I'hey saw from 
the first, the evils of being governed in the new world, by 
consuls held in the old. Acknowledging the general supe- 
riority of the crown, they still insisted on the right of pass- 
ing local laws, and of local administration. And history 
teaches us the justice and the value of this determination, 
in the example of Virginia. The attempts early lo settle 
that colony failed, sometimes with the most melancholy 
and fatal consequences, from wan 1 of knowledge, care and 
attention on the part of tho*e who had the charge of their 
affairs in England ; and it was only alter the issuing of the 
third charier, that its prosperity fairly commenced. The 
cause was that by that third charter, the People of Virginia, 
(for by this time they sode-erve to be called.) were allow- 
ed to constitute and establish the first popular representa- 
tive Assembly, which ever convened on this continent, the 
Virginia House of Burgesses. 

Here, then, are the great elements of our political system 
originally introduced, early in operation, and ready to be 
developed, more and more as the progress of events should 
justify or demand. 

Escape from the existing political systems of Europe; 
but the continued enjoyment of its sciences and arts, its 
literature, and its manners; with a series of improvements 
upon its religious and moral sentiments and habits ; Home 
governments; or the power of passing local laws, with a 
local administration. 

Equality of rights. 

Representative systems. 

Free forms of Government, founded on popular Repre- 
sentation. 

Few topics are more inviting, or more fit for philo- 
sophical discussion, than the action and influence of the 
new world upon the old ; or the contributions of America 
to Europe. 

Her obligations to Europe for science and art, laws, liter- 
ature and manners, America acknowledges as she ought, 
with respect and gratitude. And the people of the United 
States, descendants of the English stock, grateful for the 
treasures of knowledge derived from their English ances- 
tors, acknowledge also, with thanks and filial regard, that 
among those ancestors, under the culture of Hampden and 
Sydney, and other assiduous friends, that seed of popular 
liberty first germinated, which on our soil has shot up to its 
full height, until ils branches overshadow all the land. 

But America has not failed to make returns. If she has 
not cancelled ihe obligation, or equalledjt by o'hers of like 
weight, she has, at least, made respectable advances, ai.d 
some approaches towards equality. And she admits, that 
standing in the midst of civilized nations, and in a civilized 
age— a nation among nations— there is a high part which 
she is expected to act. for the general advance of humau 
interests and human welfare. 

American mines have filled the mints of Europe with the 
precious metals. The productions of the American soil and 
climate have poured out their abundance of luxuries for the 
tables of the rich, and of necessaries for the sustenance 
of the poor. Birds and animals of beauty and value have 
been added to the European slocks; and transplantations 
from the transcendant and unequalled riches of our forests 
have mingled themselves profusely uiih the elms, and 
ashes, and druical oaks of England. 

America has made contributions fr.r more vast. Who 
can estimate the amount, or the value, of the augmentation 
of the commerce of the world, that has resulted from 
America? Who can imagine to himself, what would be 
the shock to the Eastern Continent, if the Atlantic were no 
longer traversable, or there were no longer American pro- 
ductions, or American markets ? 

But America exercises influences, or holds out examples 
for the consideration of the Old World, of a much higher, 
because they are of a moral and political Character. 

America has furnished to Europe prool of the fact that 
popular institutions, founded on equality and the principle 
of representation, are capable of maintaining governments- 
able to secure the rights of person, property and reputation. 
America has proved that it is practicable to elevate the 
mass of mankind— that portion which in Europe is called 
the laboring, or lower class— to raise them to self respect, 



to make them competent to act a part in the great ri,ght 
and great iluly, of self-government; and this she has proved 
may be done by education and the diffusion of knowledge. 
She holds out an example, a thousand limes more enchant- 
ing than ever was presented before, to those nine-tenths 
of the human race who are born without hereditary fortune 
or hereditary rank. 

America has furnished to the world the character of 
Washington ! Anl if our American institutions had done 
nothing else, that alone would have eatitied them to the 
respect of mankind. 

Washington! "First in war, first in peace, and first in 
the hearts of his countrymen!" Washington is all our 
own ! The enthusiastic veneration and regard in which the 
people of the United States hold him, prove them to be 
worthy of such a countryman ; while his reputation abroad 
reflects the highest honor on his country and its institu- 
tions. I would cheerfully put the question to-day to the in- 
telligence of Europe and the world, what character ot the 
century, upon the whole, stands out in the relief of history, 
most pure, most respectable, most sublime ; and I doubt 
not, ihatj by a suffrage approaching to unanimity, the and 
swer would be Washington ! 

This structure, by its uprightness, its solidity, its durabili- 
ty, is no unfit emblem of his character. His public virtues 
and public principles were as firm as the earth on which it 
stands ; his personal motives, as pure as the serene heaven 
in which its summit is lost. But, indeed, though a fit, 
it is an inadequate emblem. Towering high above the col- 
umn which our hands have builded, beheld, not by the in- 
habitants of a single city or a single State— ascends the co- 
lossal grandeur ol his character, and his life. In all the 
constituents of the one — in all the acts of the other— in all 
its titles to immortal love, admiration and renown— it is an 
American production. It is the embodiment and vindica- 
tion of our trans-Allantic liberty. Born upon our soil — of 
parents also born upon it— never for a moment having had 
a sight ot the old world— instructed, according to the modes 
of his time, only in the spare, plain, but wholesome elenien 
tary knowledge which our institutions provide for the chil 
dren of the people— growing up beneath and penetrated by 
the genuine influences of American society — growing up 
amidst our expanding, but not luxurious civilization — par- 
taking in our great destiny of labor, our long contest with 
unreclaimed nature and uncivilized man — our agony of glo- 
ry, the war ol independence — our great victory of peace, 
the formation of the Union and the establishment of the 
Constitution — he is all— all our own! That crowded and 
glorious life — 

"Where multitudes of virtues passed along, 
Each pressing foremost, in the mighty throng 



Contending to be seen, then making room 
For greater multitudes that were to come ; — " 
that life was the life of an American citizen. 

I claim him for America. In all the perils, in every dark 
ened moment of the state, in the midst of the reproache 
of enemies and the misgiving of friends— I turn to tha 
transcendant name for courage, and for consolation. Ti 
him who denies, or doubts whether our fervid liberty can b 
combined with law, with order, with the security of prop 
erty, with the pursuits and advancement of happiness— t 
him who denies that our institutions are capable of produc 
ing exaltation of soul and the passion of true glory— to hiti 
who denies that we have contributed any thing to the stoc 
of great lessons and great examples— to all these I reply b; j 
pointing to Washington ! 

And now, friends and fellow citizens, it is time to brin, < 
this discourse to a close. 

We have indulged in gratifying recollections of the post; 
in the prosperity and pleasuses of the present, and in high 
hopes of the future. But let ns remember that we have du- 
ties and obligations to perform, corresponding to the bless- 
ings which we enjoy. Let us remember the trust, the sa- 
cred trust, attaching to the rich inheritance which we have 
received from our lathers. Let us !eel our personal respon- 
sibility, to the full extent of our power and influence, for 
the preservation of our institutions of civil and religious: 
liberty. And let us remember that it is only religion, and 
morals, and knowledge, that can make men respectable and 
happy under any form of government. Let us hold fast th 
great truth that communities are responsible, as well as in 
dividuals ; that no government is respectable which is nc 
just; that without unspotted purity of public faith, withou 
sacred public principle, fidelity and honor — no mere form 
of government, no machinery of laws, can give dignity t 
political society. In our day and generation let us seek t 
raise and improve the moral sentiment, so that we ma 
look, not for a degraded, but for an elevated and improve 
future. And when we, and our children, shall all have bee 
consigned to the house appointed for all living, may love o 
country — and pride of country — glow' with equal fervj : 
among those to whom our names and our blood shall have 
descended ! And then, when honored and decrepid age 
shall lean against the base of this monument, and troops of 
ingenuous youth shall be gathered round it, and when the 
one shall speak to the other of its objects, the purposes of 
its construction, and the great and ^glorious events wi ■ 
which it is connected — there shall rise, from every yout. 1 
ful breast, the ejaculation — "thank God, I — I also— am aa 
American." 



BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED BY REDDING k CO,, 8 STATE STREET. 

1843. 






